University of Sydney / Faculty of Arts / Department of Classics and Ancient History / Undergraduate / Honours

Honours in Classics and Ancient History

Honours Contact

Dr Alastair Blanshard

J605, Main Quadrangle
Telephone: +61 2 9351 6018
Fax: +61 2 9351 3918

School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry

Room H3.04, Level 3, Main Quadrangle
Telephone: +612 9351 2862
Fax: +612 9351 3918

Find your supervisor on this staff list.

University of Sydney Honours Scholarships

In 2009 the University of Sydney will be offering 50 Honours Scholarships, each worth $6000.

These scholarships will be awarded in degrees that require an extra year of study and all local students are eligible, including those students who completed their undergraduate degree at a university other than Sydney.

Further information about these scholarship will be available on the Scholarships website from late August. The closing date for applications is Friday December 19.

Honours paths

An extra year in classical studies allows students to specialise in a particular field and to write a major piece of research. The Department of Classics and Ancient History offers multiple paths to an honours degree:

The Honours year can be the culmination of your study in classical studies or (with appropriate advising from the Honours co-ordinator) a pathway to further research in our postgraduate program. In either case it develops worthwhile transferable skills in analysis and critical argumentation.

Qualifying for Honours

Qualifications for Honours vary from path to path. If you are considering an Honours year, it is best to seek early advice on all the pathways open to you and the skills you will need to do your best.

Ancient History
Our formal prerequisites are a credit or better average in 48 credit points of senior Ancient History including:
ANHS2612 Historiography Ancient and Modern (or equivalent)
and either
ANHS3610 Research Issues in Greek Studies or
ANHS3611 Research Issues in Roman Studies.

Latin
Our formal prerequisites are a credit or better average in 42 senior credit points of Latin including two of:
LATN3603,
LATN3604,
LATN3605,
LATN3606
plus 6 additional senior credit points of Greek, Latin, or Ancient History.

Ancient Greek
Our formal prerequisites are a credit or better average in 42 senior credit points of Greek including two of:
GRKA3603,
GRKA3604,
GRKA3605,
GRKA3606
plus 6 additional senior credit points of Greek, Latin, or Ancient History.

Classics
Our formal prerequisites are EITHER credit average in 36 senior credit points of Latin including two of:
LATN3603,
LATN3604,
LATN3605,
LATN3606
plus 18 additional senior credit points of Greek OR credit average in 36 senior credit points of Greek including two of:
GRKA3603
GRKA3604
GRKA3605
GRKA3606
plus 18 additional senior credit points of Latin.

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Undertaking Honours

Once accepted, students in the honours program will participate in research seminars and will complete a thesis. Language students will also sit an unseen examination.

Students who successfully complete the program are awarded an Honours degree at one of several levels (e.g. First Class; Second Class, Division One and so forth).

In all cases, the Honours co-ordinator can advise you on acceptable equivalents to our standard requirements for qualification. Students wishing to take Honours should consult members of the Department's staff about the prerequisites and corequisites for honours and what is involved in an Honours course.

Ancient History Honours seminars for 2010

Semester 1
Tragedy and Society
Dr Julia Kindt
What can we learn about Greek culture and society by examining the tragedies that it generated? This unit of study seeks to answer this question by exploring the (sometimes problematic) relationship between the author, his literary production, and society. While Greek tragedy tells us little about the ‘hard facts’ of Greek life, it is a rich source for contemporary ideologies, critical discourse, and socio-political and religious reflection. Greek tragedy problematises questions of justice, morality, gender, and the tension between individual and society, etc.

Semester 2
The Mediterranean World 88-49 BC
Dr Kathryn Welch
In 88, Mithridates of Pontus organised the slaughter of thousands of Romans and Italians, thereby plunging the East in a war with Rome; in the same year civil war broke out in Rome itself. We study the crisis in the Mediterranean world from both ends and to see how each end was affected by each other. The rich range of contemporary evidence allows a range of approaches and opportunities to develop skills in historical research and analysis.

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